19 Years Later Re-Written
by HarryKeogh92
Summary: In this version of the 19 Years later we are looking at what would have happened had Voldemort and Nagini had been killed, before Harry sacrificed himself.
1. Chapter 1

"Magic is might", rings out over the speaker phones across Kings Cross station, however no one notices, it is just one in many phrases called out over the speakers at regular intervals.

Archibald and his wife, Edwina and son Caractacus scurry across the platforms, dreary and grey, they pass the posters of our most exulted Minister and Dark Lord, pass a muggle sweeping the floor, and another fixing a bench, their collars digging into their throats, they make their way to the pillar between Platforms 9 and 10, but it is different now, where a hidden door way used to stand now stands a cage, with what looks like an airport x-ray scanner beside it and a booth in which a Death Eater stands waiting. Archibald goes first, placing Caractacus' Trunk on the scanner he steps into the cage.

"Places your hand in the sampler", orders the Death Eater, the voice is familiar to him, he probably went to school with him, or worked with him, before the downfall, Archibald places his hand on a shelf attached to the side of the cage palm up, a sharp pain stab into the centre of his palm and half a second later a green light appears above the cage, allowing him to exit through the opposite side and onto Platform 9¾, he collects Caractacus' trunk from the other side of the scanner and calls for his son to come through next.

Caractacus, a boy of eleven and already looking like his father, steps up to the cage, his gangly frame is stiff as he walks into the cage and the door slams shut behind him, he places his small hand on the shelf gingerly at the Death eaters order and feels the sharp pain, giving out a squeak of pain, the cage swings open and allows him through. Now it is Edwina's turn, she walks slowly up to the cage, edges in, she knows what is going to happen, what happens every time she has to be checked, placing her hand on the shelf there is a quick stab in the centre of her palm, then all hell breaks loose, chains seem to appear out of no-where and restrain her to the side of the cage facing the Death Eaters booth, an alarm is emanating from somewhere and the light on top of the cage is flashing red, a second Death Eater comes tearing down Platform 9¾ flanked by two dementors, Archibald is shouting over the din trying to be heard, holding up a piece of paper with a ministry seal upon it, a skull with a snake between its teeth stamped on in bottle green wax, he shows it to the Death Eater from the booth, while the second Death Eater has his wand drawn and ready to stun, or kill.

The booth Death Eater reads the paper and mumbles "Filthy half-blood", he tosses the writ back to Archibald, who is glaring so hard he looks like he may hit the Death Eater, but, knowing better his anger subsides and the Death Eater waves his wand at the cage which causes the chains to disappear and the door to open, allowing Edwina on the Platform, she rushes over and hugs Archibald, who holds he close, after a moment the make their way down the platform towards the Hogwarts Express, following the Death Eater and two dementors who is making no effort at not showing his disappointment from Edwina being allowed past the barrier.

As the three of them walk, Archibald struggling slightly with Caractacus' trunk the Hogwarts Express comes into view the great red steam train with its large Hogwarts crest looks resplendent surrounded by billowing clouds of white steam, as they carry on they pass the beautiful first carriage with its plush seats and large windows, then they get to the rest of the carriages, great grey hulking boxes, which look like they should contain prisoners rather than students, with their tiny windows barred and great doors which open only from the outside it is a terrifying sight, especially for a young boy who must now leave his parents and board alone, they make their way towards and open door and Caractus' mother and father hug him tightly and kiss him, "Be Strong" Archibald whispers, "and we will see you at Christmas on visiting day, we love you Caractacus".

Tears begin to fall from Edwina, and Caracatus can feel them coming too, he quickly boards the train and waves to them as the door slams shut, leaving him in semi-darkness.

Archibald walks down the Platform dragging Caractacus' trunk followed by a sobbing Edwina, they take his trunk to the last carriage where it is taken by four house elves, one on each corner, each elf is extremely dirty, and they are so thin you can see their ribs, on their backs is the Hogwarts Seal, branded into them as if by a hot iron, leaving this appaling sight Archibald and Edwina make their way back up the platform and leave, Edwina is sobbing, Archibald comforts her as best he can " He will be fine Edwina, he will keep his head down and do as he is told, and we will see him for Christmas"


	2. Chapter 2

Turning around Caractacus came face to face with a large Ministry poster, "Report traitors and mudbloods for extra House Points" were emblazoned in large red letters, beneath the text was a picture of a boy and girl in Hogwarts uniform, standing proudly infront of a large hourglass overflowing with gems, whilst other boys and girls are lead away by dementors in chains behind them.

Caractacus walks past the poster and heads down the corridor of the carriage, it is similar to the outside, tall grey walls with small windows on the doors, these windows have shutters which can be opened from the outside and are currently all closed, as he walks a door ahead of him opens, as he reaches it he peers inside to see 2 others around his age, a boy and a girl. "you best get in before the door closes", the boy says, "you don't want to get caught outside with no where to sit".

Stepping in quickly Caractacus flinches at the sound of the door slamming shut behind him,

"I'm Icarus, and this is my sister Nyx", Icarus said he stood a little as he said it, Nyx simply nodded her head.

They were an odd pair, Icarus was at least Caractacus' height, with auburn hair and a speckled complexion, he was a little pudgy around the middle, but not overly. Nyx however had black hair, and glinting purple eyes, her skin was pale and near perfect, barely a blemish or mark upon her, they were both in unmarked Hogwarts uniforms so Caractacus knew they must be first years like him.

"I'm Caractacus, are you new here too?",

"Yeh we are twins, we got here a little early, 'rents are really anal about being on time" Icarus answered, Nyx was still watching from the corner.

Caractacus started to sit down but as he did Icarus piped up, "make sure your done being stood before you sit, we made that mistake, there must be some kind of spell on the seats, once you're seated you can't stand back up, I hope they let it up at some point, I need to use the facilities if you catch my drift"

"Everyone will be catching your drift if the toilets aren't somewhere secluded Icky, last time you left the bathroom door open at home Liddy had to put flowers in every room just to hide the smell", Nyx smirked from the corner after her little joke, she had a strange voice soft and ethereal like a fortune teller at a fair ground.

"Liddy is our house elf" Icarus said quickly, "and don't call me Icky, or I'll tell everyone how your really got purple eyes Nyx".

Nyx glowered at him from the corner, but stayed silent, Icarus took this as a sign of defeat and carried on.

"Anyway, like I said do anything you want to do before you sit".

Moving across the cabin Caractacus sits opposite Icarus, there is enough room so that he doesn't have to sit too close to Nyx, Icarus was right of course as soon as Caractacus sat down he could feel something clinging to him from the seat, like magnets being drawn to each other, only so strong you can get more than a centimetre away.

"So, which house do you want to be in? And we will have to think of a nickname for you, Caractacus is too much of a mouthful, I;m going to call you Cracky for now, until we think of something better, where did your parents get that name from, our names are from Greek myths, I'm named after Icarus who flew into the Sun and Nyx is named after the Goddess of Night..."

so it it continued, question after question and Caractacus could barely answer before the next one started, Nyx just sat and smiled from the corner, now he knew why she was so quiet, Icarus could do all the talking for both of them.

. . . . . .

Harry opened his eyes, it was light outside and he could feel the warm sun shining through the window on his face, he rolled over and stared out the source of the noise that woke him up, near the cat flap in the bottom of the door a bowl had been left with some kind of soup, a lump of hard bread and a glass of water, the same as what always came through the cat flap, he sat up and stretched, then standing he stared out of the window for a while, before eating the soup and bread and drinking the water, he then left the empty bowl and glass by the cat flap and sat down to read his favourite book, Quidditch Through The Ages by Kennilworthy Whisp.

Harry wasn't sure how long he had been there, only that the last thing he remembered was killing Voldemort, then when he woke up he was here, back in the Dursley's spare bedroom, out side the window was a never ending summer, and it was forever day time, if he stood at the window he could watch his old neighbours go about their day to day business, however if you watch closely you begin to realise, they do the same thing, at the same time every day, Harry had tried many times to escape, he'd shouted from the window to the people below, and tried using various spells to unlock or blow open the doors and windows to no avail.

He was stuck and there were no obvious ways out, however he will wait and keep trying, never give up hope.


	3. Chapter 3

Icarus let out a particularly loud snore waking Caractacus up with a jolt, glancing round the cabin he could see both Icarus and Nyx were asleep, well Nyx was probably asleep, standing Caractacus stretched his legs, then, realising he was stood up and not magnetised to the chair woke Icarus up,

"Icarus, oi! Sleepy, we're not stuck to the chairs any more!"

This had no effect, he shrugged and turned to find Nyx inches from him,

"Excuse me", she breathed as she squeezed passed him.

She then proceeded to clamp down her thumb and forefinger on Icarus' nose and closed his mouth with the other, with a loud cough and splutter Icarus awoke and Nyx stepped back quickly to get out of arms reach before he came round.

"You really need to stop doing that!" Icarus gasped, "One of these days your going to choke me",

"One can surely hope" Nyx quipped back.

"Wait a minute!", Icarus look at Nyx and Caractacus, "you're both stood up!", he jumped up and proceeded to do some overly enthusiastic stretches, like someone preparing for Gymnastics.

"I hope you two weren't up to anything whilst I was sleeping" Icarus winked at Caractacus and looked at the scruffiness of Nyx's Robes.

"We most certainly were not! The very idea!" Nyx exclaimed, straightening her dress out and dropping back down into her seat, Caractacus was sure he saw a faint blush enter her cheeks, but he was probably seeing things in the semi-darkness of the cabin.

"Only joking mate, no one would want to do anything with my sister, she looks too much like me!" he winked again and then proceeded to try and look out of the window high on the cabin wall.

"Looks to me" he said straining "that it must be about six or seven o'clock at night, with the light outside, we must be nearly there by now".

"It is exactly fourteen minutes past six" Nyx stated from the corner, "If you actually wore the watch Mum gave us you would know the time and not have to guess".

"Nag, nag, nag, anyone would think we were married",

Suddenly a load booming voice could be heard throughout the cabin, reverberating off the walls, "Students! This is your conductor speaking be silent and pay attention, in precisely fifteen minutes we will be arriving at Hogsmeade station and departing towards Hogwarts, first years please make your way towards the left of the platform and wait for further instruction, second years and up please head to the right and follow the usual protocol for approaching the school, that is all".

As the echoing subsided the three first years shared a look, then started to speculate on what they would have to do to get to the school.

"My dad told me you had to row across the Lake when he was a kid, the old Game Keeper, some half-giant used to lead you across and then you had the sorting" Caractacus said remembering the fond stories his Dad had told him of Hogwarts before the Fall.

"I heard they make you talk to Him" whispered Icarus, "and that he can see into your soul and decides whether you are worthy or not".

"Don't be stupid" Nyx snapped, "Do you really think He would come all the way to Hogwarts just to say whether we can come to school or not, we are all Pure-bloods and that was the only qualification he cares about!".

"I hope they don't expect us to do magic, we haven't even been assigned our wands yet",

"I know imagine if they just throw a wand at you and chuck you somewhere really dangerous!".

"They wouldn't do that, they would be more dead students than living ones by the end of it!".

That was the final word on the subject, they felt the stopping of the train, gradually slowing to a stop, again the booming voice came out of nowhere "Students welcome to Hogsmeade, Hogwarts awaits you!".


	4. Chapter 4

The door to the cabin slid open and lines appeared on the floor directing them out of the cabin and to the left, where Caractacus had entered, they all stood and marched out following the lines, as they did so they could see other students filing out of the other cabins, there were students of all ages coming out of the cabins, but all seemed to have been allocated cabins with their own ages.

They filed past the large poster which had now changed to state "Students caught out of bed after hours will be punished!" this depicted some students lying in their beds asleep and another student wearing pyjamas being led away by dementors.

The three of them followed the other students off the carriage and onto Hogsmeade platform, ahead of them painted on the wall were two arrows, the first pointed left and said 'First Years' in large luminous green letters, the second beneath pointed right and said 'All Other Years' and was painted in luminous purple. Following the sign Caractacus, Icarus and Nyx turned left and headed to the end of the platform, it was quite busy, but they managed to navigate through the crowd quite easy, considering the vast majority of people on the platform were children there was an odd hush over them, many didn't speak and those who did spoke in whispered conversation; every 5 meters along the wall stood a school guard, they wore a white robe with SG emblazoned on their chests in red, they all wore masks which covered their faces, these were also red but completely opaque with no eye or mouth holes, this made you feel like no matter where you were, the guards were watching you.

Heading towards the end of the platform they could see a group of people around their age stood as if in formation for an army sergeant, all in rows, facing forwards with their hand behind heir backs, stood in front of them was a woman, obviously a professor of some sort as she was wearing the staff uniform, a black robe with a coloured sash around the waist, and coloured shoulder pads, her hair was pulled back into a bun, and she wore a pointed hat with a ribbon the same colour as her sash and shoulder pads wrapped round the base of the cap, she had a hard face with a pointed nose and sharp chin, beady eyes which were a cold pale colour, "you three, get in line with your other first years" she ordered as the trio approached.

"Right then, it appears you are all here, and about time too" she snapped as she looked over all of their faces, lastly looking hard in Caractacus' eyes.

"from this point on you will refer to me as Professor Divanty, I will not answer to Professor, Miss, ma'am or any other name, you will call me Professor Divanty, is that clear?" she paused awaiting a response, "when I ask you a question you will answer Yes Professor Divanty, or No Professor Divanty, etcetera, is that clear students?".

"Yes Professor Divanty", they all replied in near unison.

"Very well, from here you will split off into the reading rooms where you which you will enter individually, you will await your turn and when the green light above the door turns green you will enter, take a seat in front of the reader, you will then endure a reading and once it is complete the reader will tell you which door to exit from, is that understood?".

"Yes Professor Divanty" they replied.

"Excellent, a small piece of advice, remain compliant and obedient throughout your time at Hogwarts and you will have no problems, if you disobey the rules or do not do as you are told, you will experience problems, and at this school, they can be a lot more than most can handle, students follow me, we will now go to the reading rooms", she strode off to the left heading behind the wall of the station, the students peeled off after her in single file.


	5. Chapter 5

Turning the corner Caractacus could see what looked like a public toilet with four entrances, around 20 meters from the station. Off in the back ground he could just see the other students heading up to some carriages which seemed to be pulled by thin air!

Still following Professor Divinity, they were led up to the building. Stopping just before, she turned and started to file each student off towards a door, allowing 5 to line up in front of the door before waiting. Five or so minutes after they arrived, the lights above each door lit green, the first student from each line heading in the door, Caractacus tried to see what was through the doors but from where he was stood it looked like they were being swallowed by the darkness of the rooms. The doors shut behind each student then silence enveloped the area, each waiting student watch the light above the door, waiting to see what happened.

Suddenly a piercing cry echoed from one of the doors, then silence again, seconds later the light at the far right turned green and the waiting student edged inside, followed by the second left door, then the far left and finally the second right door, and this is how it proceeded. The line slowly got shorter and Caractacus, Icarus and Nyx got closer to their turns. It took approximately three quarters of an hour for all the other students to go through the doors, then it was Carctacus' turn. He was stood a couple of meters from the door waiting for the light to change. He looked to his left and saw Icarus give him a thumbs up for encouragement, then his light changed and Icarus was swallowed by the dark. Looking to his right he saw Nyx walk in too. He stared back up at his light, he blinked and it changed green, just as he was about to walk through the door into the darkness he heard a shrill scream that sounded like it had come from his right. He walked on through the door and as it slammed behind him.

He found himself in pure, untainted darkness. It felt like it was pressing in around him, closing in on his eyes and forcing itself into the back of his head. As he crept forward a light appeared in front of him, dazzling him for a moment. Next to the light he could see a person sat on a chair next to a table, remembering what Professor Divanty has instructed he went and sat down opposite the stranger.

He looked at this very odd person, he had a plain face that seemed quite emotionless, he was completely hairless and wore a short sleeved white one piece, like a jump suit. As Caractacus sat down the person looked up and stared into his eyes, then he heard him, a voice in the back of his head was saying "Please remain calm, I am a reader, I will access your memories and from that I will make a decision upon your house and wand".

As the voice ended Caractacus felt a pushing sensation at the back of his head. He could see all his memories, from his earliest memory of playing with his Mum and Dad at home, and rushing through from day to day, year to year. There seemed to be a perceptible pause on any bad memories, like when he had fallen in the park and cut his knee, and when his Granddad had died. He stopped for a long time on a memory of over hearing a conversation about the Ministry being corrupt, he had heard in Diagon Alley, and then it was over. Gasping, Caractacus hadn't realised he had held his breath the whole time. He stood up and stepped back from the table wanting to get as far from this 'Reader' as possible. It felt like someone and been rifling through his brain and left everything out of place, as he stepped back he heard the voice again, "Thank you for being so compliant, you have been accepted into Hogwarts School, you will be placed in Gryffindor House".  
As he heard this a red and gold badge appeared on the front of his robe with a rearing lion in the centre,  
"You have been allocated a 8 and three quarter inch wand made from Hawthorn and Phoenix feather, reasonably pliable but powerful. Please make your way through the right hand door and collect your wand from the receptacle", the voice subsided and a door was lit up ahead of him.

Caractacus headed for the door, which opened as he approached it. Heading through it he saw a dispenser on his right in which lay a Hawthorn wand with a scroll wrapped round it tied up with a Red and Gold striped ribbon, he grabbed it and headed straight for the door, exiting into the cold night.


	6. Chapter 6

Walking out into the night Caractacus could see Icarus and Nyx waiting for him. Icarus appeared to be unaffected by the experience in the Reading Rooms but Nyx looked clammy and more pale than normal, giving her an ethereal, opalescent glow.

"How was it for you?" Icarus called as Caractacus neared.

"it was certainly an experience, and not one I would like to repeat very often", Caractacus replied solemnly.

"Are you OK Nyx? I heard...well I heard a scream before I went into the room, was that you?".

Nyx just nodded then stared down at her feet and remained silent.

"Just leave her mate, she'll be OK soon, she just needs few minutes to gather herself", Icarus looked at his sister worriedly and gave her a quick hug as he walked past her.

"C'mon we have to walk up to the school now, here, Cracky let me have a look your wand, mines Oak eleven and a half inches with a dragon heart string, he said it was finicky but a good defender. What did he say about yours? Nyx got a ten inch wand made from Yew with a Unicorn tail hair, she hasn't told me what the Reader said yet"

Icarus carried on asking questions and talking for the next ten minutes while they walked up the path to the gates into Hogwarts, they could see a small line of people ahead of them.

"That must be the other first years", it was the first thing they had heard Nyx say since the reading room, she was starting to get what little colour she originally had back in her cheeks now,

"We best get in line, I bet its another test or something now", Caractacus lined up behind a tall first year boy with frizzy ginger hair.

Towering above the line of first years were the Gates of Hogwarts. What had originally just been some wrought with two great winged boars atop pillars on each side, now had been changed into a thin dark corridor made of what looked like either black metal or dark cement. Each student walked through it alone and was then set into squad formation by Professor Divanty at the other side.

Slowly they made their way through the tunnel. At the other side Caractacus asked, "what was that?",

Icarus replied "It's kind of like an X-Ray scanner but it highlights all objects on you, everything from jewellery to fireworks will show up. It's to make sure there is no contraband that enters school grounds, the owls have to go through a similar thing. If any items are found the recipient is punished on the inside and the sender is punished on the outside. I remember when Mum tried to send An some indoor fireworks for November 5th, An got given detention for a fortnight and Mum had to pay 5 galleons as a fine".

"That seems a little extreme for some fireworks. They're harmless, you can hold them while they explode and it tickles!",

"I know, but they are on the contraband list and can't be brought on school grounds",

They walked on for the next ten minutes in silence, Caractacus could tell Icarus was near bursting when they reached the great double doors into the school. At this point, Divanty called stop, turned and spoke to them, "You have all made it through the reading, whilst one of you did faint, she will be deposited in her room, the rest of your will now join the rest of the school for the new year feast. You will be quiet and respectful while in the Great Hall as the teachers are also eating in there and don't want to listen to all your babbling and carry on." she turned back, waved her wand at the door which swung open and marched through to the Great Hall, the first years following behind her.

Upon entering the Great Hall the first years split off to their respective tables and sat, Caractacus had forgotten to ask which house Icarus and Nyx were in, but was gladly surprised when they followed him to the Gryffindor table where they managed to squeeze in together.

As they sat, they gazed up at the staff table on a raised platform at the head of the Hall. In the centre of the table in a great high backed chair sat a middle aged man, he had quite a haughty pointed face and long sleek blond hair. He looked perhaps mid to late forties and was quite slim, he had a nasty look in his eyes and his face was pulled into an expression which made it look like he had something smelly and unpleasant on his shoe. He stood and waited for silence, he raised his wand and said "Silencio!".

Looking down on all the students he announced, "When I stand you will be silent. Welcome to Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry, I am Professor Malfoy, this year we have some staff changes, and after the accident last year, Hufflepuff Dormitories are back to their usual positioning and appearance. I hope you all have a fortuitous year and, as usual, bear in mind all rule breakers will be met with the utmost severity. You may now all eat. Finite incantatum".

He lifted the spell as he sat, and in the blink of an eye food began to appear on the tables. Everything you could possibly think of, soups, pies, pastry, stew, chicken, beef, fish, pork, and mountains of chips and roasted potato appeared out of nowhere. It had taken Caractacus until now to realise just how hungry he was.

Icarus was already shovelling food into his mouth like a person who had never eaten, and Nyx was quietly eating a bowl of soup.


	7. Chapter 7

The next couple of weeks blurred by and before they knew it September had gone, and they were well into October. The school weeks were fine, and Icarus was selected to be a Chaser for the Quidditch team. Caractacus had tried out but it seems his flying was more suited to travelling rather than high speed games. Nyx had begun to talk more with Caractacus. She would sometimes be in full conversation with him, then suddenly stop like she had realised what she was doing. Icarus said she must like him, but he thought he was just joking.

The three of them were heading over to their Care of Magical Creatures lesson walking, along the edge of the Forbidden Forest when Nyx stopped.

"Did you see that?"

"See what?" Icarus replied looking into the forest next to Nyx. "I don't see anything other than trees and the odd bird".

"I thought I saw a man", she said still staring intently into the forest.

"It must have been your mind playing tricks on you. Remember Professor Longbottom said all sorts of strange things live in the forest, and the majority of them are magical and dangerous. Come on we best get to class, Professor Floundling will be waiting".

With this Caractacus turned and walked on towards the Care of Magical Creatures shack. Nyx and Icarus followed on too after staring into the woods for a little longer.

. . . . .

Hagrid peeked out from under his cloak, the three students had gone. He was sure they had seen him, but he had dived to the ground and thrown his camouflaged cloak over his head. He hoped they hadn't noticed him. He had been hiding in the forest for nearly ten years now, ever since Malfoy had fired him.

He peeked out again double checking the coast was clear. It was, so he stood up and carried on his journey to the Hollow. The cloak had been given to him by Mundugus Fletcher, before his imprisonment in Azkaban. It was a magical cloak which when you threw it round yourself it made you look like a boulder, the only way you could tell it wasn't was if you got really close and noticed that the boulder was breathing. It had served him many times in the last decade and, so far, had not failed him.

He hoped today would not be the day he were found. He knew what would happen if he was found. He would be taken to Him, and then it would be all over for him and Grawp. He carried on his trek to the Hollow. He had a meeting he could not miss.

. . . . .

They arrived at the lesson only a minute late but the Professor hadn't noticed. She was stood next to a mound of very large white shoe boxes, every now and then one of them would judder and shake, and you could hear squeaking and mewling noises coming from them.

"Right class, today we start our projects for the year" Professor Floundling announced.

She was a squat woman with an old face, grey hair tied into a pony tail which stuck out from beneath the rim of her pointed wore the teachers uniform of black robes with a green sash around her waist, which matched the green pads on her shoulders and ribbon around her hat. Green was the colour for the Nature classes, this included: Care of Magical Creatures and Herbology.

Caractacus had learned that although Professor Floundling came across quite strict and forward, she was actually a very kind woman who cared greatly for all animals and creatures. Even if she had lost two fingers on her left had and badly burned the right whilst doing so.

"We will be raising Chimaera from kittens to young adults. This takes approximately seven months and so will be your main project throughout the year. You are expected to come down twice a day to feed them and clear out their cages. You will be working in teams, so arrange a rota between yourselves. At the moment the Chimaera are kittens and so are not dangerous, the worst they could do it give you a mild burn and a nip on the finger. Please remember as they grow the fire breath will become stronger and their bites sharper, not to mention their front claws, rear hooves and strong tail. Now divide yourselves into teams of three and come collect a kitten."

There was some mild hubbub whilst the students split of into their teams. Caractacus turned to Icarus and Nyx.

"Us three yeh?"

"Yep" said Icarus.

"Indeed" said Nyx

"Good".

Caractacus walked up to the Professor and she passed him one of the boxes.

"You pulled the short straw Cracky, you've got the runt".

Walking back to his friends Caractacus opened the lid and stared into the box. Inside was an animal, it had the head, shoulder and front legs of a lion cub, the body and rear legs of a baby goat and a scaled tail which looked like a dragons. It was rolling and running around inside the box and when he had opened the lid the kitten had stopped and put it forelegs against the walls of the box, looking up at the trio.

Nyx swooped, picking up the kitten and cradling it to her chest. She began stroking it and cooing at it. Caractacus was shocked, he had barely seen her so much as smile and now she was holding this kitten like it was her own child!

"She has a thing for kittens", Icarus whispered to him, "We used to have a cat and she had nine of them, and she wouldn't let us get rid of any of them".

Caractacus smiled and watched Nyx play with the kitten, gazing round at the other groups he could see what the professor had meant by the runt. The other groups kitten were the size of a small dog, whereas theirs wasn't much bigger than a normal kitten, they would have a lot of work to do.

"OK everyone listen up and follow me". Floundling called over the noise of the class.

She turned and walked around the back of the shack to where they were presented with what looked like large rabbit hutches piled two high.

"These are where the kittens will sleep, they are made of wood, but they have a inflammable charm placed upon them so no need to worry about the breath. When the weather gets cold we will move them into one of the dungeons which I have arranged to be heated during the cold months. When they get too big for their hutches we will move them into the holding cells in the dungeons".

The class then prepared the hutches for the kittens, putting down some cat litter in a tray for them and putting some food and water in a bowl.

"Remember Chimaera only eat raw meat at this age, anything else will just cause they to throw up. Believe me, you do not want to clean up flaming vomit from the bottom of your hutches".

Once the hutches were ready they spent the rest of the lesson playing with and feeding their Chimaera. Nyx decided they were going to call theirs Hercules, and at the end of the lesson no one was most loath to leave than Nyx, who told Hercules fervently that she would be back after classes that evening.


	8. Chapter 8 (Interlude)

_**Hey people of Fan Fiction; Firstly thank you for showing interest in my story, this is a short interlude from the main story, my proof reader, has expressed an interest in hearing about the Quidditch try outs, so, ever trying to please (and fix a plot hole I forgot about) here is the Quidditch try out chapter.**_

"CRACKY WAKE UP YOU LAZY LUMP!".

Caractacus shot bolt up right in his bed, dazed by the sudden awakening.

"What is it Icarus, do they have waffles on for breakfast again".

The first time they had put waffles on for breakfast Caractacus had been awoken by an over excited and waffle laden Icarus trying to tell Caractacus about said waffles and eat them at the same time.

"No!, I haven't been down for breakfast yet".

"What! Normally you go down, then go back down with me when I get up! What's wrong? Who died?"

"No one, you sarcastic sod, there's a notice on the board in the common room. They're letting first years try out for Quidditch!"

"What! Why? When?" Caractacus spluttered stunned by the news.

First years weren't usually allowed their own brooms and so weren't allowed to play Quidditch. This was practically unheard of.

"Well the whole team finished school last year except for the Seeker. He's taken over as Captain and because they need to fill the other seven places they opened it up to all years. It's today at ten, down on the Quidditch pitch".

Caractacus looked at the clock on his bedside, it was nine thirty. He dove out of bed throwing on some clothes and rushing to the door.

"Come on, I want to get something to eat before I try out!"

Icarus followed Caractacus down the stairs, through the common room and out through the back of the painting of the Fat Lady. They rushed through the school nipping into the great hall to grab some toast and a cup of tea then ran full pelt out the double doors and over the grounds towards the pitch.

They arrived with five minutes to spare, finding a long line of Gryffindors and the lonely seeker in the red and gold Quidditch uniforms of Gryffindor. They quickly fell in line scoffing the last of their toast and draining their tea.

"Right you lot, my name is Mike McGonagall, I am the seeker and captain of the Gryffindor Quidditch team, you can call me McGonagall or Captain".

He glanced over the group of Gryffindors, it was clear he was separating them into which position he thought would be best for them.

"Right first things first, I want everyone to get into three groups. One for people who want to be chasers, another for the beaters and lastly one for the keepers. I will choose my chasers first, then we will move onto beaters and we will try out the keepers last. Ready? Go!".

On his command the crowd dispersed and reformed in three groups. The largest was of people trying out for chasers, Icarus was in this group. Caractacus went into the group with the keepers.

McGonagall called the chasers up first, he told them what their job was and gave them some tips on flaying, catching and passing the quaffle. They all had a go at passing the quaffle between themselves in groups of four, under the watchful eye of McGonagall. As they were playing he was flying around and if he decided he didn't like a player he would tell them to leave and the next player would rise up and join in. Eventually there were only four people left, two fifth year girls, a third year boy and Icarus. He rushed over to Caractacus shouting "I'm in!" at the top of his voice. When McGonagall told him to shut up or leave, he carried on saying it, only a lot quieter.

Next McGonagall had a special test set up for the beaters, it looked kind of like an assault course, there were poles floating every few yards at varying heights.

"Anyone who can make it from one side to the other either jumping over or going under the poles, whilst whistling Mary had a Little Lamb, and defending themselves from two bludgers is a great beater".

With that he released the bludgers into the air. They instantly started darting and swooping around the poles. There were around eight people trying out for beaters so it didn't take long. The first couple got half way before either being hit by a bludgers or falling over one of the poles. Once they had been taken away, the six students trying out next were great, but three of them failed. The other three managed to do the whole thing, one of them even caught a bludger and held it under their arm for half the course. McGonagall chose the best two out of the three and then it was the keepers turn. There were only three of them and they each lined up waiting to find out what to do.

"Right you three, I expect only the best from my keepers. What I want you to do is, in turns go and defend the hoops, while one of the new chasers pelts a few quaffles in your direction. Most saves out of five gets the place. Oh and to make it a little trickier I'm going to leave a bludger loose to fly about a bit, good luck".

Caractacus was first. He jumped on his borrowed broom and flew up in front of the centre goal post. One of the fifth year girls flew up opposite him. They got through the five throws in quick succession and Caractacus only missed one, because he was avoiding being brained by the speeding bludger.

Next an older boy went up he had managed to save three quaffles when the bludger flew in and hit him square in the back. This caused him to fall fifteen feet before McGonagall used a cushioning charm to stop him breaking anything, then arranged for him to be taken to the hospital wing.

Last a thrid year girl went up, she managed to save all five quaffles without a single problem, although not once did the bludger try and fly for her, it was too busy whizzing around the stadium.

"Well then, it seems we have our new keeper". Said McGonagall patting the girl on the shoulder, "Thank you all for trying out, if we need stand in players I will let you know".

After handing their brooms back, Caractacus and Icarus headed back up to the castle, following a small crowd which had formed in the stands to watch the try outs.

"You should have got the keeper position mate, you would have saved all five if that bludger hadn't nearly knocked your head off", grumbled Icarus.

"Don't worry about it, hopefully she'll get knocked off her broom at the first match and then he'll give me the position". Caractacus joked.

"Oh well, we can't all be awesome Quidditch players can we?" Icarus said smirking, and jumping ahead a little to miss the punch Caractacus had aimed at him.

They went back up to the school and headed for Gryffindor tower laughing and playing the whole way.


End file.
